Word of the Day

: July 10, 2025

boffo

adjective BAH-foh

What It Means

Boffo is an informal word that describes things that are extremely good or successful.

// The most recent film in the long-running franchise has done boffo business at the box office, a testament to the series’ enduring popularity.

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boffo in Context

“A strong showing at the Senior Bowl was followed by a boffo performance at the NFL combine, where the 6-foot-4, 214-pound [Isaac] TeSlaa zoomed through the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds …” — Rainer Sabin, The Detroit Free Press, 27 Apr. 2025

Did You Know?

Boffo made its print debut as a noun referring to something great: a solid joke or a good punch line. It did so right around the same time—the 1930s, at the dawn of Hollywood’s golden age—as boff, a noun with an identical meaning thought to perhaps come from “box office.” Within a few years, boffo began to be applied adjectivally to things that, like a good joke, were a big hit: performances, all-star casts, movies. To this day it is used mostly in the context of performing arts, spectator sports, and other entertainments.